“On Friday I spoke with former Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al Alusi, who has championed counter-terrorism cooperation and normalized relations between Iraq and Israel. This Arab ally of Israel is dismayed by what he sees as President Obama’s abandonment of the liberals and moderates of the Mideast.”

J Street tried to keep it from the Senate: Chuck Hagel’s anti-Israel address to J Street in October 2009

There areÂ many reasonsÂ why Hagel shouldn’t be considered for sec-defense, there’s enough evidence against him to bar any reasonable consideration, that Hagel chose to speak to J-Street and finds himself among friends,Â is the coupe de grace against his candidacy. The Tundra Tabloids has an update:

Senators were tipped off that Hagel departed from hisprepared remarksÂ and made controversial comments to theÂ J Street Conference. In exchanges with Senate Armed Services Committee staff, J Street volunteered the prepared remarks and said it decided not to provide the complete video for fear that Hagel’s remarks would be taken out of context.It is extraordinary that any group would deny material relevant to a confirmation hearing, especially in the case of public remarks on a highly relevant topic. Moreover, for J Street to, in essence, accuse the Senate of potentially mishandling evidence is jaw-dropping.

I’m not sure how extraordinary it is given that PresidentÂ Hussein Obama has never provided the Khalidi video. But I found the video and it is embedded at the bottom of this post.

The full prepared remarks for that speech areÂ here. Â (Carl in J’lem)